Would really help to know where this is? Texas is big...and what are the circumstances that caused the train to be stuck (all you have here is that both ends of track are washed out...why and how did that happen)?

Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer passenger rail service between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth was halted Sunday because of flooding in north Texas, said Terry Angier, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Passengers were placed on buses.

Damn! Amtrak is having a helluva time! Just this week, two different Amtrak trains hit vehicles in the Lakeland, Fl area. Two accidents in less than 24 hours and within just a fews miles of each other.

14
posted on 07/21/2007 2:48:31 PM PDT
by Bushbacker1
(Soon to be Fredbacker1)

UPDATED: Saturday 12:30pm: It may not seem like it to you now, but the rain is going away! However the flash flooding is causing significant problems on roads and flooding is occurring along area rivers, creeks and streams.

In Medina County, the Red Cross has opened a shelter at Wools Middle School for voluntary evacuation of D’Hanis. They are expecting around 300 people to use this shelter. North of Highway 90 in Medina County, rainfall totals are over 5 inches of rain today with some totals in excess of 8 inches of rain.

In Medina and Uvalde Counties, Highway 90 is closed because of flooding. Uvalde is in standby mode to open a shelter at the Civic Center if necessary.

Moderate flooding is occurring in Sabinal at the Sabinal River. Minor to moderate flooding is occurring along the Nueces and Frio Rivers.

In Bandera County, moderate flooding is occurring along the Medina River above Lake Medina. Water is expected to trickle over Medina Dam spillway this afternoon. Minor to moderate flooding can be expected this afternoon and tonight along the Medina River south of Medina Lake and the San Antonio River at Elmendorf.

There are still flooding problems along the Guadalupe River south of Lake McQueeny from Friday’s rain. There are still some road closures in Comal, Guadalupe, and Gonzales counties from Friday’s rain and the rain early this morning.

The heavy rain is slowly moving north and northwest at 10-15 mph. It will continue to dissipate and move out of the region this afternoon.
4 Warn Storm Team Chief Meteorologist Jennifer Broome tells us Saturday is our transition day from very wet weather to more typical summertime chances of rain, which are late afternoon and evening pop-up storms. High pressure will build in from the north to give us drier weather. It doesn’t mean rain chances aren’t completely gone. We’ll hang on to the 20-30% chance of rain in the afternoons early next week.

I actually have relatives in Murphy Texas (north of Dallas) who mentioned a lot of rain last month -- but didn't really dwell on it much. I guess it's been a lot worse than they let on.

One reason why I live in Las Vegas! We get rain a few times during the year, but it's gone in 20 minutes...not that flash floods can't be a problem, but wow...the kind of stuff they're getting in Texas is nasty.

It does sound stupid, but it also sounds very Amtrak. I can recall being stranded in the mountains for over 24 hours on a train, because of the huge amount of snow. Hardly any food, little water, and I was late getting home for Christmas.

33
posted on 07/21/2007 3:05:18 PM PDT
by MizSterious
(A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.)

I spent 42 hours doing test rides between a mine and power plant. There were 5 of use riding in a caboose. The restroom was out of order because freezing pipes had split. No water for the toilet. The train would stop occasionally along the route. At that time we would "rinse the ballast" in the darkness. There was nothing but railroad track and lots of open space around us.

Hwy. 90 is closed by Hondo. All campers in the hill country located on the Frio River have been asked to leave. They had about 10 inches during the night and this morning. Hwy 55 remains closed. Several roads in and around San Antonio have been closed off and on since yesterday afternoon.

I was once stuck on the Metro North for about 3 hours going from Stamford to NYC. We were about a 2 minute ride from the Fordham station. This one lady called the police about 3 times, complaining that the train was stopped, we were going nowhere fast, and some bull allegations that they weren’t doing anything to get the train moving. After about 3 hours, another train stopped right next to ours, and they used one of those metal things for wheelchairs to let the passengers cross the tracks from the broken dead to the just arrived one.

They could’ve done that after a half hour and everything woulda been much better.

44
posted on 07/21/2007 3:29:31 PM PDT
by wastedyears
(Freedom is the right of all sentient beings - Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime)

In 1979 AMTRACK provided me with a round trip (on their business) From Fort Worth to Houston to LA. I had my own little cubical with a great view of the scenery. Fresh flowers on the dining table linen each meal, fantastic food, fun smoking/lounge/bar car. Those were the days.

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